SoundCloud and Spotify are two big audio platforms that have made their fair share of podcasting news over the last year. Here’s a brief roundup of what the two services have been up to lately.
Earlier this month, SoundCloud launched its new SoundCloud Go service. SoundCloud Go is aimed squarely at music fans. It’s unclear what this new service may mean for podcasters. SoundCloud Go boasts these features:
- More tracks: 125 million+
- Listen offline
- Unlock previews as full tracks
- Ad-free
SoundCloud Go is currently offering a one-month free trial with a price of $9.99/month after that. U.S. based SoundCloud users with Pro Unlimited accounts will be able to subscribe to the service for a discount at $4.99/month.
Swedish streaming service Spotify announced it’d be adding podcasts to its platform almost one year ago. Since then, the company has kept its podcasting support in a fairly limited beta stage while it manually adds new shows to its directory. Last month, it was announced that Spotify received another $1billion worth of funding:
The money is technically “convertible debt,” which means the investors will have a chance to buy in at a discounted rate should Spotify decide to go public. Some experts say that’s going to happen in 2017—Spotify already had $600 million in the bank at the time of this new round, so even though they’re losing money (Spotify lost $180 million in 2014), this new investment will likely keep the company afloat until their IPO.
The launch of SoundCloud Go puts the two services in more direct competition. SoundCloud’s financial status has been somewhat grim for awhile. SoundCloud Go may be a good way for the company to bring in desperately needed revenue. Meanwhile, Spotify’s growth has been slow but steady. However, the company faces increasing costs due to the complex and costly nature of music licensing. If the two services don’t reach financial stability soon, it may the beginning of the end for them both.
Of course, Spotify is a huge startup and doing good. Very informative post. Thanks.